1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera having a pop-up strobe for moving a flash light-emitting unit attached to the camera between an irradiation position for shooting and an accommodation position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some cameras include an electronic flash (strobe) so that many people can enjoy picture taking easily without failure. The strobe is controlled such that it automatically flashes when the subject brightness is insufficient at the time of picture taking. Of this kind of cameras, there is one having a so-called pop-up mechanism in which, if a main-switch or the like is turned ON so as to bring the camera into a picture taking state, a flash light-emitting unit pops up from an upper face of the camera to a light-emitting position and, if the switch is turned OFF, the light-emitting unit pops down into the accommodation position inside the camera body.
Conventionally, as a pop-up driving mechanism of a strobe for a camera including this kind of pop-up mechanism, especially for a camera also including an action mechanism for changing an irradiation angle of a flash light-emitting unit in synchronization with change of a focal length of a lens (xe2x80x9czoom actionxe2x80x9d hereinafter), there is a pop-up strobe device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 03038626 A, a retractable zoom strobe device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 03043721 A, a camera with a built-in strobe is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 06075278 A, and a camera described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 07110512 A. All of them includes a motor for a strobe only. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 04199034 A discloses a camera in which a motor for moving a mirror up and down and for charging a shutter is also used for pop-up operation of a strobe and zooming operation.
Of this kind of cameras, there is one in which a barrel holding a lens can be retracted from a shooting position for taking a picture to a retracted position where the lens is accommodated in a casing of the camera so that the outer size of the camera can be compact when the camera is carried or kept in storage. A powered motor built in the camera is utilized for moving the barrel between the shooting position and the retracted position.
When the strobe is popped up, the flash light-emitting unit moves between the light-emitting position and the accommodating position and thus, a power of a motor can be utilized, and there is a camera in which a motor for driving the strobe is mounted as described above. Especially in a camera in which a lens can change the focal length and flash light-emitting unit also can be zoomed, a strobe-driving motor for popping up the strobe and moving the flash light-emitting unit is mounted as described above.
If a camera separately includes a lens-driving, motor and a strobe-driving motor, the weight of the camera and the size thereof are increased. Further, positions for these motors must be allocated inside the camera, and flexibility in the design of camera is lowered.
In the case of a camera in which a strobe-driving motor is also used for moving up and down the mirror and charging the shutter as the one described in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H4-199034, since there is no direct relation between these mechanisms, the rotation direction of the motor is changed when the motor is used for driving the strobe and when the motor is used for the mirror. However, when a camera includes a zoom mechanism of a lens, it is preferable if the flash light-emitting unit is popped down when the lens is retracted because these actions can be synchronized.
Thereupon, it is a first object of the present invention to reduce weight and size of a camera including a retractable barrel and a pop-up mechanism, by using a strobe-driving motor for driving a lens, and popping the strobe up and down in accordance with a retracting action of the barrel.
In order to pop-up the strobe reliably, it is necessary to drive the strobe such that a, sufficient distance is secured for pop-up action. If sufficient distance is secured for pop-up action, there is an adverse possibility that a distance between the shooting position and the retracted position of the barrel is increased. If the distance between the shooting position and the retracted position is increased, a length of optical axis of the camera, i.e., a thickness of the camera is adversely increased.
Thereupon, it is another object of the invention to provide a camera including a pop-up strobe in which the strobe can be popped up utilizing the power of a barrel-driving motor, and the barrel can reliably move between a shooting position and a retracted position.
As technical means for achieving the above object, there is provided a camera including a pop-up strobe, comprising a retracting mechanism for moving a barrel between a retracted position and a shooting position by a power output from a driving source, a pop-up mechanism for moving a flash light-emitting unit between an accommodated position and an irradiating position, power branching means provided in an intermediate portion of a barrel-power transmitting path between the driving source to the barrel, and a pop-up power transmitting path for transmitting a power of the driving source from the power branching means to a driving mechanism of the pop-up mechanism.
For example, in the case of a structure in which an output of the driving source is transmitted to the barrel through the power transmitting path comprising a gear train, an appropriate gear constituting the gear train is meshed with another gear as power branching means, and the driving force for the pop-up mechanism of the strobe is obtained from this other gear. Further, the pop-up action is carried out when the barrel is advanced to the shooting position, and the pop-down action is carried out when the barrel is retracted to the retracted position. Therefore, the retracting action of the barrel and the pop-up action of the flash light-emitting unit can be synchronized.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera, including a pop-up strobe, comprising a retracting mechanism for moving a barrel between a retracted position and a shooting position by a power output from a driving source, a pop-up mechanism for moving a flash light-emitting unit between an accommodated position and an irradiating position, power branching means provided in an intermediate portion of a barrel-power transmitting path between the driving source to the barrel, and a pop-up power transmitting path for transmitting a power of the driving source from the power branching means to a driving mechanism of the pop-up mechanism, wherein when the barrel is moved from the retracted position to the shooting position, the barrel is further moved forward from the shooting position, a pop-up action for moving the flash light-emitting unit from the accommodated position to the irradiating position is carried out, and, after the pop-up action is completed, the barrel is retracted and moved to the shooting position.
As described above, it is preferable to reduce the movement amount of the barrel between the retracted position and the shooting position in order to make the camera thinner. However, if the moving amount from retracted position to the shooting position is reduced, there is an adverse possibility that a sufficient moving amount for pop-up action cannot be obtained. Thereupon, the barrel is further advanced forward from the shooting position to increase the moving amount, and the pop-up action is carried out utilizing this moving amount. Thereafter, the barrel is retracted to the shooting position to bring the camera into the shootable state. If the pop-up mechanism of the strobe is provided with appropriate engaging/disengaging means so that the power caused by the retracting action to the shooting position of the barrel is not transmitted the strobe by the action of the engaging/disengaging means in a state in which the pop-up is completed, the flash light-emitting unit maintains the irradiating position. The flash light-emitting unit is biased in a pop-down direction by the biasing means, the action of the engaging/disengaging means is released halfway through the retracting movement of the barrel to the retracted position, this biasing force is applied to the flash light-emitting unit, and the flash light-emitting unit is brought to the accommodated position. With this arrangement, the pop-up and pop-down action can reliably be carried out.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera including a pop-up strobe comprising a zoom lens device including a retracting mechanism for moving a barrel between a retracted position, a wide-angle shooting position and a telephotograph shooting position by a power output from a driving source, a pop-up mechanism for moving a flash light-emitting unit between an accommodated position and an irradiating position, power branching means provided in an intermediate portion of a barrel-power transmitting path between the driving source to the barrel, and a pop-up power transmitting path for transmitting a power of the driving source from the power branching means to a driving mechanism of the pop-up mechanism, wherein when the barrel is moved from the retracted position to the wide-angle shooting position. The barrel is further moved forward from the wide-angle shooting position, a pop-up action for moving the flash light-emitting unit from the accommodated position to the irradiating position is carried out, and, after the pop-up action is completed, the barrel is retracted and moved to the wide-angle shooting position.
When the strobe is popped up, the barrel in the retracted position is slightly advanced beyond the shooting position and then, the barrel is retracted to the shooting position. An advancing/retracting mechanism of the barrel for advancing the barrel from the shooting position and then retracting the barrel is complicated in structure, and in the case of a camera having tie retracting mechanism provided with a unifocal lens device which has a merit of simple structure, if the camera is provided w the advancing/retracting mechanism; its merit is lost. On the other hand, in the case of a camera having a zoom lens device, the barrel is advanced from the retracted position to the wide-angle shooting position, and it is advanced and retracted between the wide-angle shooting position and the telephotograph shooting position by the zoom action. Therefore, it is unnecessary to separately prepare the advancing/retracting mechanism which advances the barrel from the retracted position beyond the wide-angle shooting position and then retract the barrel to the wide-angle shooting position.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a constituent element of the pop-up power transmitting path is provided with power accumulating means, the power accumulating means accumulates a power halfway through the pop-up action, and when the barrel is popped down from the irradiating position to the accommodated position, the pop-down action is carried out by the accumulated power.
As described above, it can be biased against the flash light-emitting unit by the biasing means but in this case, it is always biased, and, when a coil spring is utilized, for example, there is an adverse possibility that a desired action cannot be obtained because of fatigue. If, however, the power is accumulated at the time of pop-up action, the desired action is not prevented from being obtained by the fatigue even if the power accumulating means comprises a coil spring because the coil spring is usually in its natural length state. Further, since the pop-down action is carried out by the accumulated power, the pop-down action can be carried out irrespective of the moving amount of the barrel. Even if the distance between the retracted position and the shooting position is shortened for reducing the thickness of the camera, the pop-down action can reliably be carried out. The moving amount of the barrel can be reduced to a minimum by combining the invention of the fourth aspect with the second or the third aspect.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the camera further comprises a pair of interrupting power transmitting elements which are provided in the pop-up power transmitting path, and which are capable of relatively move and mutually transmitting a moving power, non-interference means for cutting a transmission of the moving force between the pair of interrupting power transmitting elements, and moving-preventing means for preventing a second interrupting power transmitting element of the pair of interrupting power transmitting elements disposed closer to the flash light-emitting unit from moving in a predetermined direction, wherein the power accumulating means is interposed between the pair of interrupting power transmitting elements, when a first interrupting power transmitting element disposed closer to the power branching means is moved from its original position to a second position in a normal direction, the second interrupting power transmitting element is moved from its original position to a second position, and the flash light-emitting unit is moved to the irradiating position, the second interrupting power transmitting element is prevented from moving toward the original position by the moving-preventing means in a state in which the second interrupting power transmitting element is in the second position. The power accumulating means accumulates power by moving the first interrupting power transmitting element from the second position to a first position in the opposite direction, a moving-preventing operation of the moving-preventing means is acting, a movement of the first interrupting power transmitting element from the first position to the second position transmitted to the second interrupting power transmitting element by the non-interference means, a restraint of the second interrupting power transmitting element by the moving-preventing means is released by moving the first interrupting power transmitting element from the first position toward the original position in the opposite direction, thereby allowing the second interrupting power transmitting element to move, the flash light-emitting unit is moved to the accommodated position by the power accumulating means, in a state in which the first interrupting power transmitting element and the second interrupting power transmitting element are in their original positions, the barrel is in the retracted position, and the flash light-emitting unit is in the accommodated position, and the camera is brought into a shootable state when the first interrupting power transmitting element is in the first position.
If the barrel is moved from the retracted position to the wide-angle shooting position in the case of a camera having a zoom lens device or other variable focus lens, or to the shooting position, i.e., forward in the case of a camera having a short focus lens, its power is transmitted to the first interrupting power transmitting element through the power branching means, and the first interrupting power transmitting element is moved from the original position in the normal direction. At that time, the second interrupting power transmitting element is also moved from the original position in the same direction together with the first interrupting power transmitting element, thereby moving the flash light-emitting unit from the accommodated position to the irradiating position. If the barrel advances to an appropriate position beyond the wide-angle shooting position or the shooting position, the first and second interrupting power transmitting element move to the second positions, and the flash light-emitting unit comes to the irradiating position. The moving-preventing means is connected to the second interrupting power transmitting element located in the second position, and the second interrupting power transmitting element is prevented from moving toward the original position. If the barrel is retracted to the wide-angle shooting position or the shooting position, the first interrupting power transmitting element moves from the second position and comes to the first position. At that time, the power is accumulated in the power accumulating means. On the other hand, since the second interrupting power transmitting element is maintained in the second position, the flash light-emitting unit is maintained in the irradiating position and thus, the strobe shooting can be carried out.
If the barrel is retracted from the wide-angle shooting position or the shooting position to the retracted position, the first interrupting power transmitting element moves from the first position to the original position. Since the restriction by the moving-preventing means is released halfway through this movement, the second interrupting power transmitting element is set free. Further, since the power for moving toward the original position is applied to the second interrupting power transmitting element by the power accumulating means, the second interrupting power transmitting element moves to the original position by this biasing force. At that time, the barrel is in the wide-angle shooting position or the shooting position, and the camera is brought into the shootable state.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the pair of interrupting power transmitting elements comprise power transmitting elements which are capable of turning mutually and coaxially. That is, the interrupting power transmitting elements may be capable of mutually sliding straight but, when the barrel-power transmitting path comprises a gear train, the rotating force is obtained from the power branching means. Therefore, in order to transmit this rotating force to the driving mechanism of the pop-up mechanism efficiently, it is preferable that the pop-up power transmitting path also comprises a gear train. When this structure is employed, it is preferable that the interrupting power transmitting element can also turn because the structure is simplified, and if the transmitting element can turn, the installation space is reduced, which is advantageous for reducing the camera in size.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention, one of the pair of interrupting power transmitting elements is provided with a projection. The other is provided with a receiving groove for accommodating the projection, and the non-interference means does not transmit the power between the interrupting power transmitting elements when the projection is not in engagement with any of ends of the receiving groove. Since the non-interference means comprises the combination of the projection and the receiving groove, the power can be transmitted reliably with such a structure.
According to an eighth aspect of the invention, the power accumulating means comprises a torsion coil spring whose opposite ends are respectively engaged with ends of the interrupting power transmitting elements. When the pair of interrupting power transmitting elements can turn mutually, the torsion coil spring is connected between both the elements. If one of the transmitting element is fixed and the other is turned, the torsion coil spring is twisted and resilience is accumulated. Therefore, if the fixed state of the one transmitting element is released, this transmitting element is turned in the same direction as the other transmitting element.
According to a ninth aspect of the invention, there is provided a pop-up method of a strobe of a camera having a pop-up strobe, wherein when a retracting action for moving a barrel between a retracted position and a shooting position by a power output from a driving source is carried out, a pop-up action for moving a flash light-emitting unit from an accommodated position to an irradiating position is carried out in synchronization with the moving action of the barrel. If the barrel is moved from the retracted position to the shooting position, the flash light-emitting unit, is popped up to the retracted position in synchronization with this moving action. If the barrel is moved from the shooting position to the retracted position, the flash light-emitting unit is popped down to the accommodated position.
According to a tenth aspect of the invention, there is provided a pop-up method of a strobe of a camera having a pop-up strobe, wherein a retracting action for moving a barrel between a retracted position and a shooting position by a power output from a driving source is carried out, a pop-up action for moving a flash light-emitting unit from an accommodated position to an irradiating position is carried out in synchronization with the moving action of the barrel, when the barrel is moved to a shooting position, the barrel is advanced slightly from the shooting position, the flash light-emitting unit is moved to the irradiating position with this advancing action and then, the barrel is retracted to the shooting position. When the camera is brought into the shootable state, the barrel moves beyond the shooting position. The strobe can reliably pop up by this moving distance. Thereafter, if the barrel is moved to the shooting position, the camera can be used for shooting in a state in which the strobe is popped up.
These and other features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following description thereof together with reference to the accompanying drawings.